A teenage boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly shooting the husband of a former Miss America contestant.
On Saturday, 37-year-old father and born-again Christian Thomas Hand Jr. was fatally shot in front of his 2-year-old son and his wife, former Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski Hand, in Montgomery, Alabama.
According to the reports, the family was spreading the word of God throughout an impoverished neighborhood when the suspect approached the young man and shot him dead.
As his distressed wife has since claimed in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com, Christian was killed in “a complete random act of violence.”
“He tried to spread the word of God, and he was shot,” family friend Kevin Rayan added.
It has since also come to light that the family would often visit poor neighborhoods in an attempt to raise awareness about the healing properties and powers of God.
While the police have since the horrific shooting arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of murder, the motive for the attack remains unclear.
The suspect has since been named as Jerimiah Walker, whereas he now faces a capital murder charge.
Mr. and Mrs. Hand had just moved to Montgomery last year in an attempt to leave the violence in New Orleans far behind them and give their child a better future.
“It’s crazy because he was telling me every day, ‘I want to get away from this crap, go buy a house in Alabama.’ And then this happened,” Rayan added.
Another family friend, Luke Lemus, recalled how Christian and Christine fell head over heels for each other on the day they met at their gym.
“It was love at first sight. They just hit it off. They started their life together from that point on. They were inseparable from the day they met,” Lemus said.
Our thoughts are with the Hand family during these challenging times.
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